1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a container for a drain cleaning plumbing tool that is commonly termed a snake or auger. This invention particularly refers to a container for a plumbing snake which contains a storage chamber and a means for rotating the storage chamber together with a selected length of the snake extending from the storage chamber to rotate within a drain which is clogged. This invention relates to the type of augers that are operated either manually or mechanically.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A drain cleaning plumbing tool which utilizes a motor driving a rotating snake inserted into a clogged drain, pipe or trap to soften and break up debris which clogs the drain, pipe or trap is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,727,261 issued on Apr. 17, 1973 to Levine. The prior art also contains manually operated auger equipment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,317,247 to Levine, issued Mar. 2, 1982 discloses apparatus of this type that can be operated either manually or mechanically. The apparatus of this latter patent provides a handle 17, a mechanically rotatable snake storing chamber and a drive rod 24 located along the axis of said chamber and constructed and arranged to be connected adjacent an axis of rotation to a chuck of an electrically operated drill to rotate the snake.
Several features of this latter patent are deficient and require improvement. For example, the housing for the storage chamber of the flexible coiled snake and an extension or passage for positioning a selected length of said snake extending from the storage chamber therethrough for insertion into a clogged trap or drain is made of two parts which must be screwed together. Furthermore, when such apparatus is used mechanically rather than manually, the rotating force for rotating the snake is transmitted directly from the drive rod 24 that is attached to the drill to the rotatable snake storage and receiving apparatus adjacent the axis of rotation. This direct attachment requires a very large initiating force to develop a moment of force sufficiently large to induce rotation of the entire structure of the device and its attached snake. This large initiating force sometimes causes breakage of the direct connection between a drive shaft and the mechanical element of the auger to which the drive shaft is directly attached.
While the mechanically operable version of the latter Levine patented apparatus provides more strength for operating longer snakes required to unclog certain drains than a manually operable version, the fact that the entire mass of the storage device for the rotating snake receives its initial force along or adjacent the axis of rotation makes it necessary to develop an improved drain cleaning plumbing tool that reduces the likelihood of breakage at the juncture between the drive rod of a drill and the auger apparatus and also that makes it unnecessary to screw together separable parts of an auger tool.